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NCAA MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 2, 2015Stewart JollyBenjamin TaylorChuck WinsteadBRADENTON, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, LSU, job well done, and appreciate you for joining us today. We're joined by head coach Chuck Winstead and student‑athletes Ben Taylor and Stewart Jolly. Coach, I'll open it to you for a quick statement about going to the national championship match tomorrow. CHUCK WINSTEAD: Well, obviously proud of the guys. You know, today the match play is a long day, quarterfinals and semifinals, and so to be able to kind of keep your mind right and play at a level to do what they've done, proud of that. Obviously looking forward to tomorrow, and we'll see how we do. THE MODERATOR: For both Benjamin and Stewart, just give a quick statement about your feelings about going to the match tomorrow, as well. STEWART JOLLY: I couldn't be more excited, just so proud of my team. We've been working hard for this all year long, and hard work is paying off. Just couldn't be happier to get started tomorrow. BENJAMIN TAYLOR: Yeah, certainly very, very thrilled. It was a big day for us because I know that a lot of the guys were very motivated to get to the final after what happened last year, and like Stew said, we worked so hard this year. We know that we're good enough to compete in the finals of the national championship, and we're all very excited to go compete tomorrow and perform well. Q. Can you both kind of elaborate on this: The fact that this is your senior year, your kind of last campaign, how special this that it's all coming together in this last season for you? STEWART JOLLY: Well, it's not over yet. We obviously have business to take care of tomorrow, but definitely getting past the semifinals is a big step and couldn't be happier and more proud of my team because we lost last year in the semis, so we're just excited to improve on that from last year. BENJAMIN TAYLOR: Similarly to what Stew said, being a senior certainly gives you that little bit more of an edge to even want to do better. I know the guys on the team are going to be just as hungry, but it just makes us as seniors feel like we need to have more of an input in the team because it's going to be our last hurrah. That's certainly how I felt coming down the stretch when I knew my match was very important, and it only motivated me to hit the shots that I haven't hit this week because it was my last time or it could have been my last time wearing purple and gold, and I didn't want it to be my last day, so all positives going through and getting to the final tomorrow. Q. Ben and Stewart, last year just getting to match play was kind of a success for you guys and it was kind of a stepping‑stone. What did you take away from that experience last season? STEWART JOLLY: Well, I think at the beginning of last spring, last year, we were coming off not a great fall, and we were just looking to build on that or build on something, and we started playing well and then we started gaining momentum, and I think by the time last year this tournament came around, we all believed that that's where we should be. I think we're all disappointed that we didn't get to that final match, and it left‑‑ it definitely stung and left a chip on our shoulder and made it all that more special to make it this year to the finals. CHUCK WINSTEAD: And if I left you with the impression that it was a success just to make match play, that wasn't what I was trying to get at. What I was trying to get at is when you haven't done something and you accomplish it, you're always going to feel good about it. It didn't mean that they didn't want to‑‑ and felt like they could, and they could have gone farther. BENJAMIN TAYLOR: Similarly to what Stew said, it was slightly different to me because last year was my first year at LSU, so I didn't know how big Division I athletics and Division I golf was, so to get to the national championship and get to the match play proved to ourselves how big it is and how much we deserved to be here because we don't work hard all year to not go there and compete and try and win, and this year I think that's at least given us the experience to go into SEC's and win it this year rather than come runners‑up this year, to get ourselves to the final, and it's only going to motivate us to go and win tomorrow and go all the way. Q. Not that you guys haven't already been through two rounds of match play, but what's going to be the key tomorrow? STEWART JOLLY: I think we all just need to keep our heads down and focus on the golf that we can play, and if we play the golf that we can, we will be just fine. BENJAMIN TAYLOR: Yeah, I know that everyone is going to have their own individual game plans for this golf course, but certainly the way that I executed myself on the back nine today, you just can't give anything away in match play, especially on this golf course, because you give anything away, people are going to win holes with pars. Being in the final when you've only got 18 holes to win the match, you don't want to be giving anything away, and I think that's going to be a team goal for tomorrow. Q. Was there a turning point for you today, Ben? BENJAMIN TAYLOR: Yeah, I had a slow start on the front nine when that rain was quite heavy. Both of us kind of struggled. We were halving a lot of holes. But when I holed a couple putts and I birdied 7 today for the first time this week, I got myself going there. I made a good up‑and‑down on 8, and then from there I kept holing good putts. I certainly didn't give as many holes away as I should have, but that 7th hole was a big turning point in my match today. Q. I'd be interested with the weather today, obviously the rainy weather was a challenge for y'all. Do you prefer it rainy as it was today or as hot as it's been the previous days? CHUCK WINSTEAD: I'll take the overcast and the rain. I'd be all right with that. What do you guys think? STEWART JOLLY: Doesn't matter. BENJAMIN TAYLOR: It's match play; it's the same for you and your opponent, so as long as you can play, you can play. I don't mind. Q. The fact that you guys were a 7 seed, to beat a 2 seed and a 3 seed, does it matter in match play or is it just you and the course and you and the other guy and you throw that stuff out the window? STEWART JOLLY: I don't think the seeding makes a bit of difference at all to be honest. The top 30 teams or the teams that are playing‑‑ top 30 that are playing the best come here, and the eight that make match play are playing the best at that moment and time, and so, I mean, they're a bunch of really, really good teams, and I just don't think that the seeding‑‑ I don't think that it makes that big of a difference because all the teams that make match play are playing great. THE MODERATOR: Thank y'all. Appreciate it. Congratulations. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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